Graintec wins Ocean Farming contract
Graintec has won the contract to provide the equipment and systems for the distribution and receiving of feed for a new offshore mega-farm.
Salmar’s Ocean Farming project, the first to be awarded a development licence by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, has been in the pipeline for a number of years – with feasibility studies starting back in 2012, since when various technical solutions have been assessed. The outcome of the extensive studies has resulted in an offshore farming installation that combines marine biology, marine cybernetics and marine engineering with newest data technology. The facility is highly technological and supported by underwater sensors and other backing systems, taking the monitoring of the feed process to another level.
Having a slack-anchored, semi-submersible facility floating on the water poses new challenges to fish farming technologies.
“It has been an exciting challenge to combine the perfect technology within the limited space we have on the facility, while keeping performance, weight and little energy consumption into consideration,” says Martin Olde Heuvel, Project Manager from Graintec. All operations for handling the fish can be performed directly on board by a crew of three to four people.
As a subsidiary of the Salmar Group, Ocean Farming AS has been established for developing offshore salmon farming possibilities. To help fund the concept development phase, the project received grants from Innovation Norway. Production start for the offshore facility is scheduled for mid/end 2017.
